Beslan, Northern Ossetia, Russia …. [Valery Ivanov/ANN]
Following the recent terrorist siege at a local school in Beslan, organizations and the local government are continuing efforts to help neighbors in the region. Seventh-day Adventist church leaders in the North Caucasus area and in the church’s Euro-Asia region are bringing various forms of aid.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church [in the] North Caucasus [region] is doing everything possible to comfort people of Beslan and help in this situation. It is the most important work of the church at present moment,” said Alexey Plakhota, local church president.
On Sept. 22 to 23, a delegation headed by Plakhota visited Beslan and met with Vladimir Khodov, regional government administrator, the mayor of Beslan, the Beslan hospital’s chief physician, and the minister of Labor and Social Protection for the regional government.
Church leaders and local officials discussed providing rehabilitation assistance to teachers at eight Beslan schools and their pupils as a long-term program.
“Most help has been on a one-time basis,” Khodov told the delegation, adding that continuing aid is needed. He said the government would provide “the best buildings” and other necessary support for such programs.
On Sept. 29, Vasily Stoliar, president of the church in West Russia, is expected to be among a delegation of religious leaders who will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow to discuss “Religious Terrorism and Extremism.”
Copyright © 2004 by Adventist News Network.